“Communities are not problems to be solved — they are the solutions we have been overlooking.”
Culturally grounded solutions for a complex world
Safe Roots Consulting helps international organizations, NGOs, governments, and individuals through culturally grounded mental health consulting and counselling services — designing and implementing evidence-based strategies that honour community, culture, and context.
About Us
Bridging research, practice, and global impact
Safe Roots Consulting is a registered Manitoba firm specializing in mental health consulting and counselling services. We provide culturally grounded, evidence-based support in mental health, suicide prevention, and community well-being — working with international organizations, NGOs, governments, academic institutions, community agencies, and individuals and families. Our expertise spans Global South and West African contexts as well as local practice here in Canada.
Our work is built on a simple conviction: effective mental health solutions must be rooted in community, shaped by culture, and grounded in evidence. We do not import generic frameworks dressed up in cultural language. We build solutions that are genuinely rooted in evidence, in community, and in practice.
20+
Years of combined clinical, research, and policy experience
3+
Countries of active fieldwork and practice
1st
empirically grounded suicide prevention framework for African informal settlements
Registered Social Worker (RSW), Manitoba
Our Services
Our main focus is mental health consulting and counselling services. We work with organizations and individuals at every stage — from strategy and program design to direct counselling, implementation, and evaluation — delivering solutions that are contextually appropriate and measurably effective.
Counselling services
Culturally grounded, trauma-informed counselling for individuals and families, delivered virtually from Winnipeg to clients locally, nationally, and internationally. Our counselling draws on clinical social work expertise and a deep respect for each client's cultural context and lived experience.
Mental health strategy & design
Designing culturally responsive mental health frameworks for organizations serving diverse and underserved populations, including Global South communities.
Suicide prevention consulting
Evidence-based suicide prevention program design, policy advisory, and training for NGOs, governments, and community organizations — including informal settlement contexts.
Community well-being programs
Community-based participatory approaches to mental health promotion and the social determinants of health, grounded in local assets and cultural knowledge.
Training & capacity building
Workshops, staff training, and curriculum development for clinical teams, NGO practitioners, and government agencies on trauma-informed, anti-racist mental health practice.
Research & evaluation
Qualitative and mixed-methods research design, program evaluation, knowledge translation, and academic-to-practice consultation for funded development projects.
Additional Service
International development advisory
Technical advisory support for international NGOs, UN agencies, and bilateral donors on the mental health components of Global South development projects, with a focus on West Africa.
Why Safe Roots
Safe Roots Consulting was founded to close a gap. Organizations working in international development and global mental health often lack access to consultants who have actually worked in the communities they aim to serve — who speak the languages, understand the belief systems, and have sat across from clients in under-resourced settings.
Safe Roots exists to close that gap. Every engagement draws on genuine field knowledge, rigorous research, and a deep respect for the communities at the centre of the work.
The CLSPF Framework Page
The Community-Centric Suicide Prevention Framework
The Community-Centric Suicide Prevention Framework (CLSPF) is the first empirically grounded suicide prevention framework developed specifically for African informal settlements. Developed through doctoral fieldwork in Makoko, Lagos, it is available for adaptation by organizations working in comparable contexts in the Global South.
Community as the safety net
Informal social structures, kinship networks, and community leaders as first responders and prevention actors.
Cultural & spiritual grounding
Integrating spiritual interpretations of distress and community belief systems into prevention strategies.
Structural determinants
Addressing poverty, debt, and social exclusion as upstream drivers of suicide vulnerability.
Awareness & referral pathways
Bridging gaps in suicide literacy and fragmented referral systems through community-owned networks.
Evidence-based adaptation
Scalable and adaptable across African and Global South informal settlement contexts with empirical grounding.
Policy & systems integration
Connecting community-level prevention to government health policy and international development frameworks.
Let's work together
Whether you’re designing a new program, seeking a technical advisor, or exploring a research partnership — we’d love to hear from you. Safe Roots Consulting welcomes consulting enquiries, research partnerships, co-funding applications, and speaking invitations.
CONTACT DETAILS
- Email: karamatkelani617@gmail.com
- Phone: 204-869-2035
- Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Reach: Serving clients nationally and internationally
Who We Serve
Safe Roots Consulting works across sectors wherever culturally grounded mental health expertise is needed.
- Individuals and families (counselling)
- International NGOs
- UN agencies (WHO, UNICEF, UNDP)
- Global Affairs Canada and development donors
- IDRC-funded research projects
- Provincial and federal governments
- Academic institutions
- Community health centres
- West Africa development partners
- Newcomer and diaspora organizations
- Hospital social work departments